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Gustavo Dudamel to conduct Friday despite neck injury, national tour is still on [Updated]

May 7, 2010 | 10:10
am

Gustavo Dudamel will conduct a concert Friday morning, despite having pulled a muscle in his neck during a Thursday evening concert, said a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

He withdrew from the second half of the L.A. Phil concert to undergo medical examination and was replaced by associate conductor Lionel Bringuier.

The spokeswoman, who has not personally spoken to the conductor, said that Dudamel still feels pain but is comfortable enough to return to the podium at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Dudamel's injury Thursday evening had raised questions about whether he would be able to participate in the orchestra's national tour to eight cities, which begins Monday in San Francisco and lasts through May 22. [Updated: A previous version of this story stated in error that the tour ended May 21.]

But the company spokeswoman said Friday that the tour and Dudamel's participation in it "are still on as far as I know."

Dudamel assumed the role of music director of the L.A. Philharmonic earlier this season. The national tour -- his first with the company -- consists of eight cities and 10 concerts.

Also among the stops are Phoenix, Chicago, Nashville, Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Newark, N.J.